Although the current global economy situation is quite gloomy, Indian software majors should be quite happy with the latest Gartner report. According to them, IT spending in India is projected to reach $71.3 billion in 2014, a strong 5.9 percent increase from the $67.4 billion expected in 2013.

The most important aspect of this report for Indian software majors is that IT services is expected to record the strongest revenue growth at 12.1 percent.

Gartner's SVP, Peter Sondergaard, made an interesting remark on the report findings, he said, "The digital world is here and this results in every budget being an IT budget; every company being a technology company; every business is becoming a digital leader; and every person is becoming a technology company. This is resulting in the beginning of an era: the Digital Industrial Economy. The Digital Industrial Economy will be built on the foundations of the Nexus of Forces (cloud, social collaboration, mobile and information) and the Internet of Everything by combining the physical world and the virtual"

The remark factually represents the situation we are in currently – Everything is going online, everything is going digital and it is clearly visible from the fact that every business is going online and every service offering is moving to internet.

Key Highlights of the Report

• The IT spending by Telecom companies that accounts for 42.1 percent of the Indian ICT market, is expected to grow at moderate rate of 2 percent in 2014.
• The devices market, which includes mobile phones, PCs, tablets and printers is expected to total $23.5 billion in 2014, a 6 percent increase from 2013.
• The Indian devices market is expected to have the largest segment of IT spend in India by 2017.
• Mobile devices revenue will total $26 billion in 2017 and will account for 76.4 percent of device revenue and 28 percent of overall IT spend in India in the year 2017
• By 2017, Gartner report forecasts that half of all first-time computer purchases will be a tablet.

Mobile technology is advancing at a breakneck speed right now, with unique and innovative ideas hitting the market almost on a daily basis.

Ever since the idea of mobile applications and a market place for these applications have been devised (thanks Steve Jobs), developers and thinkers are leaving no stone unturned to come up with unique, out of the box applications.

Here, we are showcasing 3 such unique mobile app ideas which have recently being introduced or about to hit the market:

Scented Notifications:

Receiving notifications on smart phones is one of the most consistent tasks for any smart phone user. As of now, the only options of receiving these notifications are in the form of sound (pings or rings) or without sound. But a food lover and application developer has some other ideas.

How about a mobile app which sprays different aromas for different activities? For example, butter potato aroma for Facebook likes notification; strawberry aroma for a new email and jasmine aroma for a new retweet?

Smells amazing, right?

Scentee is a new mobile app developed in Japan, through which you can send aroma to your friends, instead of texts and use different aromas for different activities such as receiving notifications etc.

Here is an explainer video:

Satellite Spy Alert

Are you always worried whether a satellite is spying on you or not? Relax; now there is an app to find out that.

Aptly named SpyMeSat, this new iPhone app sends you notifications when unclassified imaging satellites or spy satellites are directly over your head and zooming in to take secret images of you.

Developed by Orbit Logic, this app also creates dynamic maps which show the orbit tracks of these satellites and the location of remote sensors which passes your geographical locations at any given time.

This application makes use of public information related to commercial satellites and international imaging satellites which is available for research. Additionally, data from North American Aerospace Defense Command is also analyzed to provide detailed satellite tracking information.

Now, you don't need to be paranoid about random satellites spying on you; you can track them and catch them red handed.

Android Powered Augmented Reality Helmet With 180 degree view

Move over Google Glass; here is a new augmented reality helmet which can provide you 180 degree rear view, connectivity with your Android phone, seamless navigation, weather reports and save your life as well.

Motor biking with this slick helmet can change the rules of driving, for ever.

Developed by US based company Skully Helmets, this Android powered helmet has a rear facing ultra wide angle lens camera which provides its wearer live feed of everything which is happening behind them and sideways: 180 degree views, which is projected inside of the helmet, on the visor.

Additionally, this helmet can provide turn by turn navigation, notification of texts, calls as it is connected to your smartphone, access to music library and ability to make hands free calls as well as program the route for better time management.

Skully Helmets are looking for volunteers who can test their product. You can apply here to become an approved beta tester.

Have you come across any more unique mobile apps? Do let us know in comments!

Media is the new King today. Whether it is pure economics or brand equity, different forms of media are continuing to rule the roost in today's age. And media is always powered by journalists. And journalists by information and data.

To continue helping journalists report the news in new and compelling ways, Google launched Google Media Tools, a centralized hub aimed at empowering journalists of various skill levels with more ways to connect with their audiences and communities.

Consider this: Worldwide, the New York Times used Google+ Hangouts to interview U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry about Syria's chemical weapons. The Weather Channel used Google Earth to illustrate the damage of Superstorm Sandy through dramatic before and after satellite images and live YouTube video. And Svenska Dagbladet used the Google Maps API and crowdsourced information from readers to plot disparities in neighborhood mortgage rates, generating a meaningful debate in Sweden. Closer home, during last week's Orissa cyclone Phailin, Google again came up with a crisis response.

The idea is to offer a one-stop shop where reporters can access and learn to use a number of Google services, from Google Search trends to Google Maps, as well as get details on how to use Google to enhance their reporting on topics ranging from political elections to humanitarian disasters and more.

These examples are just a few of the various different ways where technology is helping in news collection, or more precisely, internet tools including Google tools helping journalists in collecting news and staying ahead of the curve.

What's on offer?

It is not just a collection of the various services Google offers. Actually, it has subdivided sections where reporters can dive into various topics they're interested in to better learn the details of how things like Google's Transparency Report work, or to learn how to get started using the Google Maps API to build customized maps and better visualize data.

It makes searches more effective by allowing them organize all the crucial information needed and collaborate on it with colleagues using various Google tools like Analytics and Trends, get engaged via Hangouts and visual tools like Google Earth and Maps API.

There are also tools for Publishing news on the web, the development toolkit for browser-based applications and help on niche topics like Politics and Elections, something which journalists in India would lap up for the next few months for sure.

Right time?

Google's launch of Media Tools comes at a time when competitors on search, news and social fronts, namely Facebook and Twitter, have already made big pushes of their own to get data from their services into reporters' hands to aid with their reporting.

Facebook has opened up the ability for anyone to embed public posts on external websites. The social network also recently announced the launch of the Public Feed API and Keyword Insights API, allowing select news organizations like CNN, Today Show, BSkyB and others access to programmatically search through Facebook's public data for keywords and other trends.

Meanwhile, Twitter has for some time catered to the needs of media, with a dedicated site rich with materials for reporters in newsrooms with how-to guides and best practices and links to Twitter's various resources for engaging an audience, getting support, understanding Twitter terminology and more.

By offering free tools that are up-to-date, Google is guaranteeing greater involvement in its products by journalists and researchers alike, thus becoming a one stop-stop for all needs.

With such interconnected tools, Google is ensuring that you don't need any other tech platform to become the next sensation in Journalism!